{"id":35,"date":"2023-10-04T18:05:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T18:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomandmaria.com\/retrolab\/?page_id=35"},"modified":"2026-02-17T05:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T05:49:11","slug":"welcome-to-the-retrolab","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tomandmaria.com\/retrolab\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Retrolab"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The UWM History Department’s Retrocomputing Lab is in Holton 402. The lab itself and this website are both created and maintained by me, Thomas Haigh. It holds a growing collection of fully functional personal computer hardware, software, and supporting material with strong coverage of the 1980s and 1990s. Members of the UWM community can visit by appointment or come to one of the open house sessions that I announce via the Lab’s email list. To subscribe to this list or schedule a visit to the lab please email me at thomas.haigh@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The idea was not to create a comprehensive collection in one particular area or a museum stuffed with rare and obscure items, but a working lab collection of ordinary machines from different eras. The lab is currently equipped with around 20 fully functional computer systems, four printers, and a range of accessories. Much of the material is from my own earlier life, some was donated by UWM faculty and staff, some comes from UWM Surplus<\/a>, and some I purchased on eBay and other sources. These are selected to represent the evolution of personal and home computing. Collectively they would allow pretty much any PC, Macintosh or Apple II program to be experienced on something reasonably similar to its original hardware. We cover some other platforms of the 1980s such as British home computers, CP\/M, and the Atari ST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n